by ron kampeas
jta
Now that they’ve called each other disrespectful, Rabbi Eric Yoffie and the Rev. John Hagee are ready to meet and discuss their differences — respectfully.
The two religious leaders have been squaring off for the past week.
In a major speech April 2, Yoffie called on Jews to dissociate themselves from Hagee and the organization he founded, Christians United for Israel, asserting that the pastor did not respect other faiths or the right of Israeli leaders to make territorial concessions.
Five days later Hagee, a Texas-based evangelical megachurch leader and arguably the country’s most influential Christian Zionist, fired back in a conference call with reporters.
“Rabbi Yoffie’s speech demonstrates not only a lack of respect for me but a troubling lack of respect for the truth,” he said.
Hours after Hagee’s media call, however, both men were sounding a more conciliatory note.
“I was told he was interested in meeting with me,” said Yoffie, the president of the Union of Reform Judaism. “I’d be delighted to sit down and talk to him.”
Hagee’s spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, confirmed that the pastor was considering such a meeting.
Yoffie’s initial speech and the potential for a rapprochement come as Hagee is working to repel negative publicity unleashed by his endorsement last month of Sen. John McCain, the probable Republican presidential nominee.
Critics have called on McCain to distance himself from the endorsement, accusing Hagee of religious intolerance. The controversy threatens to weaken Hagee, one of Israel’s most influential Christian supporters, while also supplying a boost to liberals who oppose the increasing willingness of Jewish organizations to work with him and other right-wing evangelicals on Middle East issues.
On April 6, while on a trip to Israel, Hagee announced that his group was giving $6 million to 16 Israeli causes. Recipients include the Magen David Adom rescue service and the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel.
“Jews should not enter into alliances of any kind with those who do not speak respectfully of other faith communities,” Yoffie told approximately 300 Reform rabbis who had gathered for their annual convention.
“And sadly, tragically, Christian Zionist leaders have engaged in repeated attacks, expressed sometimes in shocking and unacceptable language, directed against other religious traditions. This is not a matter of highlighting differences in belief but of making use of overheated rhetoric that spews hatred and vitriol toward the Muslim and Catholic faiths.”
The anti-Catholic charge especially irked Hagee, who delivered prepared remarks during the conference call.
Hagee denied reports that he had referred to the Catholic Church as “a great whore,” a “false cult system” and an “apostate church.” When using such terms, Hagee added, he had been referring to all Christian anti-Semites, whatever their denomination.
The pastor did not address claims that in the past he had said some intolerant things about Islam, including his reported assertion that the Koran instructs Muslims to kill Jews and Christians. After the call, a Hagee spokesman said the pastor distinguishes between Islam and radical Islam.
Yoffie’s boldest step last week was his call for Jews to stop attending “Nights to Honor Israel,” a periodic event that has become Hagee’s key triumph.
CUFI says the nights have raised tens of million of dollars since Hagee launched them 25 years ago. Since its founding, CUFI has held 75 such events across the country, often working with local Jewish groups.
Even with the recent controversies, Hagee still commands strong support within the Jewish community.
Lee Wunsch, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, who joined Hagee on his current Israel tour, sent an email to constituents urging them to give the pastor the benefit of the doubt.
Wunsch wrote, “I must tell you from the bottom of my heart that I believe that he has been maligned by the press and unduly criticized by some in the Jewish community that cannot accept his unconditional love and support for Israel.”
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California